Los Angeles Clippers Might Soon Have NBA’s Best Uniforms
I have no idea if the Clippers will be any good this season, or next. Hell, anytime James Harden and load-management-coinsurer Kawhi Leonard are involved, there’s going to be more questions than answers.
What I do know, is that the Clippers are going to be the NBA’s best-dressed team next season. Or, at the very least, in the discussion.
On Monday, the Clippers dropped new uniforms and logos which will debut next fall during the ’24-25 campaign.
And, they’re damn near perfect.
Absent are the non-team colors that so many NBA franchises now seem to prefer: like the Bulls’ baby blue fits, Utah somehow working orange into the mix, or Oklahoma City borrowing the Hawks’ colors.
And don’t get me started on the league’s growing trend of using highlighters whenever possible: that means you – Indiana, Miami, Minnesota and so many more.
Los Angeles got it right. The Clippers have (mostly) always been red, white, and blue. The new unis not only keep those colors intact, but the designs are simple and classy.
There’s no cheesy nickname like "Buzz City," (shout out Charlotte!) occupying the chest. L.A. kept it simple. The uniforms read either "Clippers" or "Los Angeles." What a novel concept.
Credit the Clips for not getting in their own way. When you have the country's colors to work with, you already have a head start against the competition. It's tough to mess up those colors, unless you're Major League Baseball's Cleveland Guardians and you decide to Disney-up the red, white, and blue by giving a baseball wings and a couple of funky-looking Gs. But that's a conversation for another day.
We're here to applaud Los Angeles for a job well done.
Clippers New Uniforms Pass The Eye Test
Los Angeles' new uniforms are part of a rebrand the team is undergoing ahead of next season. In addition to new threads, Steve Ballmer's team will be working with a new logo, and playing in a new arena, the Intuit Dome. LA's new home came with a $2 billion price tag and is expected to open this August.
I can see that logo sitting on the lapel of a way-too-expensive polo shirt sold in some fancy golf club's pro shop. But that's neither here nor there. I've seen worse. Besides, we're here to pump up the uniforms.
The team's website, Clippers.com, described the new blue and white threads as such: "Icon and Association Editions feature a modernized version of the classic Clippers script, a longtime fan favorite, in bold Clippers Navy and Red. The uniforms are simple and streamlined, with a thin trim of Pacific Blue, which stretches from the Global Logo like the horizon line of the ocean. Even the font of the numbers evokes those on Naval warships."
Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers are getting a new look. (Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images)
They later explained their third uniform, the "Statement Edition," fit as a "…much-anticipated return of a red Clippers uniform."
Frankly, they could've typed the lyrics to Hanson's "MMMBop," there and I wouldn't have cared. We're looking at a thing of pure beauty that's less than a year away from wrecking the NBA's current closet full of fashion faux pas.
Toss these threads up there with the Celtics, Knicks, Bulls (but not those damn baby blues) and Lakers as the NBA's best. They're that good, that soon.
Often referred to as L.A.'s "other team," the Clippers currently sit in fourth place in the NBA's Western Conference. They'll have plenty of work to do in order to end their season as the league's best. And we're still months away from seeing how that plays out. But, thanks to Monday's uniform rebrand, we can already be assured the Clippers have won the offseason.
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